The Little Corner
by LarrupingForever
Summary: No one knew that Liz had suffered abuse...not until now. After a final incident, Liz may have to move. The Gallagher Academy Staff do everything they can to prevent this. They come face-to-face with Summer Adams. What will happen? It isn't Joe x Liz
1. Prologue: Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Ellie Sutton had her back to the bathroom door. She had locked it, just like her older sister, Liz, had instructed her. She had done everything required of her, and now she wondered why the fighting was still going on.

Liz had told her that she would go downstairs to see if she could do anything, after she had seen Ellie's tears spill down her face. "I'm so stupid, why did I start crying? Why, why, why? If I hadn't then Liz wouldn't have had to go downstairs…"

Suddenly, the noise stopped downstairs. The screams, howls of pain, and the crashes of furniture being thrown across the room, it had all stopped, and was now replaced by an eerie silence.

Ellie slowly turned around, and she began to slowly unlock the door. When she had finally unlocked the door, she began to push it open, ever so slightly. Ellie took a careful step out, ready to lock the door again, should anything happen. But nothing did. Ellie took careful step after careful step. When she reached the stairs, she looked down, and gasped.

It appeared as though a nuclear bomb had gone off. Nothing was left in one piece downstairs, and what was worse was that there were splatters of blood on the ground.

Ellie heard the floorboards creak behind her, and turned to see who it was. She forever wished that she hadn't looked, and had just listened to her gut feeling and run!

Slap! The sound resounded along the hallway, but no one heard it. No one heard the cries of Ellie, either, as she tumbled down the stairs…


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth Sutton's bruised face popped up from the bushes near the road. She glanced cautiously behind her, before venturing out of the bushes. She saw bright headlights coming down the road, and began jumping and waving franticly for the car to stop. But the car didn't stop, it kept driving past. As it drove past, Liz could hear the music from the car rush past her.

Liz felt tears begin to well up, and she sniffled, trying to stop the tears. She wiped her bloody arm across her runny nose. She refused to cry, she had to remain strong, and she had to remain in control, everything that a Gallagher Girl was. Liz looked up into the sky, wondering why she had left Ellie in the bathroom. Then the sharp pain came again from her sprained ankle, and she remembered why she had left Ellie in the bathroom.

"I just need to get back to her, soon! Or get someone to come, or…just something!" Elizabeth Sutton felt helpless, and hopeless, for the first time in her life. She could usually come up with some gadget which would help her and her friends, but for the first time ever, she wasn't in control, she couldn't do anything to stop what was happening right in front of her.

A car's bright headlights finally broke Liz out of her spell, and she resolutely decided that she would do anything in her power to get this driver to stop.

She ran out, like a wild woman, in front of the car, screaming, "HELP!" and waving her arms wildly, while hopping up and down.

Liz knew that she was probably a sight to scare the living daylights out of anyone, but she didn't care. All she had on her mind, at that second, wasn't whether or not the car would stop, whether she would survive, but it was about getting someone to help and protect her little sister from her father.

The car stopped, and Liz saw a woman quickly get out. The lady ran over to Liz, just as Liz collapsed from the overexertion. As Liz sank to the ground, the lady managed to catch Liz just in time, before she hit the ground.

Liz looked up at the anxious face above her. Her vision was hazy, and slowly dissolving into blackness, but she managed to tell the lady where her house was, just before she passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

When Liz woke up two days later, she found that she was in a pleasant room with bouquets surrounding her bed. She saw that her arm was connected to an IV machine, and she realized that she was in the hospital.

As Liz gazed around the room, she noticed that her best friends were there, asleep. Macey McHenry was on a chair, looking like a model, despite being asleep. Bex Baxter had thrown herself onto a chair, and was sleeping in a precarious position on that chair. Last of all, was Cammie Morgan. She had pulled a stool up to the foot of Liz's bed, and had fallen asleep on her folded arms.

Liz smiled gratefully as she watched her friends sleep peacefully.

The bedroom door creaked open, and the lady who had stopped her car poked her head through the door, and smiled brightly at Liz, before shutting the door again.

This noise awoke Bex, who was sleeping the closest to the door, and since she was in a precarious position, she fell onto the tiled floor.

She looked sheepishly up at Liz, before getting up from the floor.

"Hello, Bookworm." She said affectionately, once she had gotten up from the floor. "How are you doing?"

Bex inwardly kicked herself, knowing that that was probably the worst question to ask someone who had been abused.

"Okay, I suppose," Liz replied thoughtfully, "is Ellie alright?"

Liz had just remembered her younger sister. She was furious with herself that she had forgotten about Ellie.

People usually thought that Liz, because she simply wanted to work at the desk, that she didn't notice occurrences, and that she wasn't as diligent and smart as all the girls in the CoveOps class. The thing is…that's just not true.

Liz noticed when Bex quickly glanced left, before she answered quickly, "She's perfectly fine."

Liz took a deep breath, before asking the question again, in a carefully controlled voice. "Is…Ellie…alright?"

Bex slowly shook her head, and said, "She's…stable, at the moment. The doctors think that she may pull through…but they're not sure."

Liz took a deep breath to calm her nerves, before nodding. She tried to smile, but she couldn't without her eyes tearing up. She shrugged, her voice breaking, as she said, "I wanted to protect her, and I didn't do that. She's my little sister. Even if she can be as annoying as heck, I love her. That's all there is to it, and…now…if she doesn't survive it's my fault. It's my entire fault…" She flung her face into her pillow, and her small, fragile body began to shake in time with her sobs.

Liz's weeping woke the rest of the girls up, and for that Bex was almost glad that Liz was crying. Almost. Her cries were so heart-breaking, that anyone who heard them wanted to cry with her.

Even Bex felt tears trying to surface. When she looked over at Macey, she saw that there were streaks of mascara traveling down her face, as she tried to comfort Liz. Cammie and Bex looked awkwardly at each other, before going over to Liz.

**0oo0oo0**

"Thank you for everything you've done for Elizabeth." Mrs. Morgan politely shook Summer Adams hand.

"How _did_ you find us?" Abby cocked her head curiously.

"Oh…well…I found out where Elizabeth went to school, and I called your Administration office. I hope I didn't disturb you." Summer replied just as politely, although there was a tinge of apology in her words.

Abby smirked slightly, looking at Joe, hoping that he too, would find it rather funny. She couldn't possibly disturb them, even this early. They had been having meetings about the best strategies to take down the Circle for weeks now.

But when Abby looked at Joe, Joe didn't smirk back. Joe wasn't even looking in her direction. He was staring at the lady who had saved Liz's life. His face was more open and full with emotions than she had ever seen them before, and even that much emotion was hardly enough to see what was really going on in the man's head.

Joe saw Abby looking at him out of the corner of his eye, and quickly masked his face. He cursed himself for being such an open book. He continued looking at Summer, only this time he was careful to make it look like he was simply interested in the conversation, and was politely listening.

"Anyways, if it's okay, I'd like to come visit Elizabeth again sometime, as well as, Ellie." Summer asked, although it wasn't exactly a question, it was rather more of a demand, hidden subtly in a question-like form.

Of course, when you're surrounded by highly-trained operative, which she was, then no matter how subtly you try to phrase your demand, they will always be able to tell that it's a question.

Rachel looked at Joe and Abby, trying to send the distress she was feeling, and that she had no idea what to say to the question/demand. Unfortunately for Mrs. Morgan, neither of them were much help.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." A British voice came from behind Summer, and when she spun around, she saw none other than Agent Townsend, although of course, she didn't know he was an agent.

"May I ask why that's not possible?" Summer asked curiously, trying to stretch her height as much as she could, although even when she stretched herself she wasn't that tall.

"Because it would be inconvenient, and it may prohibit their recovery process." Townsend replied coolly.

Summer scoffed at this remark, but before she made a come-back, Joe Solomon jumped into the conversation which was heading south.

"Ms. Adams, may I ask if you're married?"

Summer looked at him, taken aback by the question. "No, I'm not," she answered indifferently.

Joe nodded his head, knowingly. "I was just curious, sorry for the straightforwardness."

Summer waved it away, before handing her business card to Rachel Morgan, and heading towards the exit.

After Summer was out of earshot, Abby turned on Joe, "Well, that was definitely straightforward! What was that about?"

Joe shook his head, "Nothing…it was nothing." He stared down the hallway that Summer had walked down. "Nothing of importance anyways."

Townsend looked at his, his curiosity piqued. He waited until the ladies had left, to go check on Liz, and see if Ellie was still stable.

"What was it about?"

"Nothing, I already said it was nothing." Joe answered irritated.

"Alright, alright. It's just that, well, I never thought of you as the straightforward type of person. And you seemed to need to convince yourself that it was nothing more than the rest of us." Edward held his hands up in mock surrender.

Joe just stared at him. He seemed like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by screaming.

"Ellie's going to live, Ellie's going to live!" Macey ran screaming into a room, which the both of them assumed was Liz's.


	4. Chapter 4

"Summer, there is someone here to see you." Lindy, Summer's secretary, said into the intercom.

Summer told Lindy to tell whoever it was to wait a few minutes, before turning back to her stacks of folders. As she flipped aimlessly, through the papers within, her mind was on the little girls in the hospital, instead of looking at the letters on the paper.

"I'm sure that I can help them…I just need to figure out where their mom went." Summer began to think of different ways of how to be able to find the mother.

The door slammed open, almost ripping it off of its hinges.

Summer jumped, and couldn't help but let a little yelp out.

Standing in the doorway was Joe Solomon, and he looked incredibly impatient.

**0oo0oo0oo0**

Liz looked at her younger sister who was sleeping peacefully on the bed next to her. Ellie was now on the road to recovery, and she slept quite often.

Liz was almost fully recovered, she just had a few cuts and bruises, and apparently, she would be allowed to be signed out of the hospital tomorrow.

Ellie turned onto her side, and began to murmur.

Liz leaned closer, to hear what her sister was saying.

"Why did you leave? You said you wouldn't…why, why, mommy. You said you'd protect us…" Tears began to stream down her face, and Liz tried to reach out and comfort her sister, but she was restricted by the needle sticking into her arm.

"Ellie, Ellie!" Liz leaned out as far as she could, so that she was nearer to her sister's ear. "Wake up!"

Ellie jumped a little, and she then turned to Liz, her face wet with the salty tears that were continuing to fall. "She's gone forever, isn't she? Daddy made her go away didn't he?"

Liz nodded sullenly. She had to let Ellie believe those lies, because she knew that if Ellie knew the real reason why their mother had left…she would be broken, forever.

Ellie had always loved their mother, and their mother had probably loved Ellie…as for Liz….Liz had never lived up to be what their mother wanted her to be.

"Knock, knock. May I come in?" The friendly nurse opened the bedroom door a crack, before opening it fully, when she was invited in. She pushed a trolley in, laden with food for lunch.

Ellie looked at it hungrily, while Liz was afraid what they were supposed to do with all of it.

"Oh, don't worry. You're not expected to eat _all_ of it!" The nurse chirped. "You'll be having friends in here too, to help you eat." She then smiled, and left the room.

Soon enough, Liz and Ellie could here chatter coming down the hallway, signaling the arrival of their friends.

Bex burst through the door first, and immediately headed for the food. After she had had an apple, she smiled hello.

Cammie, Macey, Abby, Headmistress Morgan, and Townsend all appeared relatively soon after her. Hellos echoed throughout the room, and lunchtime was spent full of laughs and jokes, although…Townsend didn't laugh as much as everyone else. But that was expected.

As Liz looked around the room, she noticed that someone was missing, and then she decided to ask where he was. "Where's Mr. Solomon?" She hadn't directed the question at anyone in particular, but no one answered her. "Do you guys know where he is?"

The whole room seemed to move in unison. Everyone shook their heads.

"When I asked him, this morning, he said that he had some business to take care of. I'm assuming it may be an asset, or probably some long-lost girlfriend." Townsend commented, as though he didn't care where Joe was. Although, in reality, the curiosity was eating him up as much as anyone else. He just couldn't show it.

"Oh, okay." Liz looked down at the sandwich she was eating. She had really hoped that Mr. Solomon was here, because she needed to talk to him.

Just then, the door swung open to reveal none other than, Joe Solomon. He walked in, eased himself onto the arm of Abby's armchair, before saying, "Hello Liz and Ellie. I'm glad that the both of you look better today." He then half-smiled, before helping himself to a sandwich.

After everyone had finished eating lunch, they began to disperse in every direction. Soon enough, Mr. Solomon and Townsend were the only people left in Liz and Ellie's room.

"I do believe that Ms. Sutton would like to say something to you, Joe." Townsend said under his breath.

"I do believe you're correct Edward." Joe whispered back. "Do you mind staying here with Ellie, while I take Liz for a walk?"

"No. I would quite like to get to know this younger Ms. Sutton." Townsend got up from the wooden chair he had been sitting on and dragged it over to Ellie's bed.

As he began to talk to her, Joe got up and helped Liz out of bed.

"Where were you?" Liz asked meekly, once they were out in the park behind the hospital.

"I had some business to take care of." Joe replied looking straight ahead, unable to look at the little girl next to him. She was by far the weakest in Cammie's group…but she could disarm you with far more ease than anyone else in the group. Liz simply had to look at you with her big eyes.

"Okay," Liz nodded sullenly, "is everything okay?"

"Yes, it's fine." Joe stopped walking and waited for Liz to turn around and face him. "What do you want to ask me?"

"Oh," Liz looked disappointed that she had been so easily read. "I want to know if you can find my mom."

Joe looked confused, so Liz helped explain, "She left a while ago. She didn't want to take us…well she may have wanted to take Ellie, but never me." At this point her voice broke a bit, and her already fragile body looked like it was going to break with the wind pushing against it.

"I never lived up to her expectations of a perfect daughter, but Ellie still has some hope." Liz looked up at Joe, and Joe could see that Liz was trying incredibly hard not to let her tears come flooding out. She gulped nervously. "Could you try to find her, and tell her to come help Ellie? Please? Ellie needs a mother figure, and I just want the best for her."

"What about you?" Joe got onto his knee, so that he was closer to Liz's height. "What about you?"

"I don't matter." Liz shrugged, trying to make it seem like she didn't care that her mother didn't love her.


	5. Chapter 5

Summer thrashed around in her bed, before bolting upright. She looked down at her hands, and saw that there was some blood in her fingernails.

She lay her head back down on her pillow, and tried to go back to sleep. But she kept waking up in a cold sweat.

Summer decided to get up and go downstairs to the kitchen. She rubbed her temples, as she took a carton of milk out of the fridge and drank it, without putting it in a cup.

"Is that very sanitary?"

Summer froze instantly, the milk in her mouth beginning to feel like bile. That voice…that voice had been responsible for her nightmares.

She spun around and tried to punch Joe Solomon in the face, but he caught her fist halfway through the air.

"I suppose if your children get sick, you'll know why." Joe shrugged. He pulled Summer over to the kitchen table, and shoved her into a seat.

"What are you doing in my house?" Summer was furious now. Her fury had almost reached the high level that her fear was currently at.

"I just wanted to see my beautiful sister-in-law." Joe winked mischievously.

**0oo0oo0**

"You've found her?" Liz looked at Townsend and Mr. Solomon incredulously. Her thin face had such a bright countenance, that the men didn't want to tell her the rest.

Liz tilted her head, looking at them, "There's more…isn't there?"

When they wouldn't answer, she looked from Townsend to Mr. Solomon desperately, "What are you not telling me?"

Edward Townsend cleared his throat, and began to say the hardest words he had ever had to say in his entire clandestine career. "Ms. Sutton, your mother. We find her, but…we found her on a hospital cot in the hallway of a hospital. Apparently, when she couldn't pay the medical bills anymore, they moved her into the hallway. The nurses seemed rather busy, but we were able to find out that she won't be…around much longer."

Liz looked in the direction of Townsend, but she didn't see him. She felt as though all of the air in her had been knocked out. She couldn't breathe. Liz fell to her knees, clawing at the air, trying to convince it to stay in her body.

Her vision began to have spots, and the worried voices surrounding her sounded as though they were miles away. Her head began to pound, as though someone had taken a hammer to her head. Liz breathed out one single word before she fainted, "Mom…"

**0oo0oo0**

"Are you sure that you want to be here?" Abby whispered in Liz's ear. She had a grip on her arm, so that if she had another fainting spell, Abby would be there to catch her.

"I'm sure." Liz steeled her nerves, ready to come face-to-face with her mother; the mother that had abandoned them; the mother that had known that her daughters were suffering at her husband's abusive hands, and yet hadn't even considered taking any of them with her.

When Liz walked around the corner, and saw the frail, emaciated body lying on the forgotten cot, her nerves began to weaken.

"Mom," Liz cried as she ran towards the bed. She threw herself on her mother, and began to weep.

She didn't realize, until after she had begun to quiet down, that there was a small hand combing her hair.

"Mama," Liz whispered, her voice breaking again.

"Liz," Mrs. Sutton rasped out of her mummified body. "I'm sorry…and please…tell Ellie…that I loved her…."

Liz gazed down at her mother and believing that she had finished talking, began to get up. She now knew for a fact that her mother had only ever loved Ellie.

"Liz," Mrs. Sutton reached up to grab Liz's arm, "I'm very sorry…about everything…I wish I could've been a better mother to you…and Ellie. Please forgive…me? I…love…you."

Renewed tears sprang from Liz's tear ducts, and flowed down her face. "I forgive you."

Mrs. Sutton smiled up into Liz's face, and grasping Liz's hand, let out her last breath.

"Mom?" Liz touched her mom's face, not accepting that she was truly dead. "Mama? Please, no! You can't leave me yet…you haven't watched me graduate…or get married…or even seen your own grandchildren. MOM! Don't leave me alone!"

Liz felt a hand touch her back softly; she turned her tear-streaked face to see Cammie, and the rest of the girls.

"You're never going to be alone…" Cammie whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

Joe Solomon jogged up the steps to Summer Adam's Antebellum-like house. It was 11:00pm sharp when he rang the bell.

When Summer answered the door, she was surprised, to say the least, to see Joe Solomon standing on the doormat of her house. He'd always simply snuck into her house, and surprised her.

"What do you want?" Summer asked irritated, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I want to apologize for nearly ruining your career, and also for being a lousy brother-in-law." Joe looked at her, his eyes shining with sincerity.

Summer was determined that he wouldn't disarm her with his manly charms. She nodded her head curtly, before turning back inside.

As Joe walked through the house, he began to notice that the only photos on the wall were of her and her children, just her children, scenery. There was something missing…and he noticed it immediately.

When he arrived in the kitchen, Joe saw Summer preparing some coffee and tea.

"I still remember how you like your coffee." Summer commented as she a cup of coffee to Joe.

"So you do." He answered wryly. "I like the photos hanging up along your halls."

"Oh…thanks." Summer replied stiffly. She began to subtly make more distance between herself and Joe.

"You change your last name, and you also remove all traces of Jonas, your husband, in your home." Joe's voice began to lower, as he got angrier.

"Don't you dare judge me, Joe! You can't judge me, not when you completely _removed_ yourself from his LIFE!" Summer began to scream, and flung her coffee mug at Joe's head. Joe ducked and it crashed against the kitchen wall.

"I wasn't present because I was trying to protect him. You know that." Joe's voice slowly began to rise in volume. He began to walk slowly towards Summer. "But you…you don't have an excuse for completely erasing Jonas from you and your home."

Summer began backing up, but then tripped, and stumbled into a kitchen chair. "I am moving forward; I'm moving on!" Summer's voice began to tremble, "I _need_ to move on, I can't stay like this."

"He was my brother and you're completely…dishonoring his name. You don't even acknowledge his name." Joe slammed his hand down on the table.

Summer flinched, and screamed back at him, "He was my husband! He's DEAD! He left me." She then broke down in tears.

"He didn't leave you! Do you think he wanted to die?" Joe shouted. "He left me too…" He then whispered.

Summer barely heard him…but she did.

"Mama?" A little voice broke through the tension in the air. A small wavy brown headed boy cautiously came into the kitchen. "Are you alright?"

Summer waved her hand dismissively, "I'm fine, William. I was…just having a bit of a disagreement with your uncle."

William nodded. He didn't leave though; he just stood stoically in the doorway.

Summer nearly laughed at how brave her little son was. She got up, and edged around Joe cautiously, before running and picking up William, and twirling him around in the air.

William began laughing, and stretched his little, chubby arms around his mother's neck. "I love you." He whispered, before dropping his head sleepily on Summer's shoulder.

Summer turned to look at Joe, and mouthed, "I'm going to put him to bed."

Joe nodded.

When Summer came back downstairs, she was surprised to see Joe Solomon cleaning up the mess she had made, when she thrown the cup of coffee at him.

"I'm sorry about that. I can do it."

"No, it's okay. It was my fault anyways. I shouldn't have come here." Joe shook his head, and then looked at her curiously. "Just one thing I need to know. Why did you changed your last name?"

Summer looked at her feet uncomfortably, "I don't know. It's just…I suppose…I don't know. He was kind of a celebrity, but I didn't want to live in fame. So, I decided that I should change my last name. I suppose it was kinda stupid, huh?"

Joe laughed softly, "Yeah, it was. I thought that you had looked familiar that day in the hospital. So…what do you do for a living now?"

"I'm a social worker." Summer blurted out.

"Is there something special about being a social worker that made you answer so quickly?" Joe raised his eyebrow, as he sat down across from her.

"No, no…just…do you think I'd be allowed to be Liz and Ellie's social worker? I would really like to help them." Summer then looked down into her new cup of coffee, sheepishly.

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Joe shrugged. "Why do you want to help them though?"

"I don't know…they…I think that just need someone to help them. And, I want to be able to help them." Summer smiled.

"You should smile more." Joe commented as he got up and put his cup in the sink. "I've got to go, but it was nice to catch up."

Summer blushed, but then laughed at what he had last said. "Yeah, but next time we 'catch up' maybe we should actually 'catch up'."

"Maybe…" Joe smiled gratefully at her, the last family he had.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where will Liz be staying? After she gets out of the hospital?" Cammie curiously asked her mom, as her mom took some microwaveable dinners out.

"We're not sure yet, maybe she'll stay with us. Or she may simply always stay at the Academy." Mrs. Morgan replied distractedly. "Am I supposed to take the wrappers off before or after it's in the microwave?" She turned to Cammie, looking hopelessly useless, which…wasn't usual.

"Before," Cammie answered bored.

"Thanks hon!" Rachel Morgan chirped.

**0oo0oo0**

"Are you telling me, that you aren't even the tiniest, eensiest bit interested in the 'relationship' between Joe and that lady, Summer?" Abby questioned Townsend incredulously.

"If he wished to tell us, he would. I refuse to accompany you on your ridiculous raid of his room. That is a complete invasion of privacy." Townsend answered, sticking his nose in the air.

He acted as though he didn't care, but…alas, it _did_ bother him. In fact, he has already searched Joe Solomon's room, but he hadn't found anything.

"Well, you're just not any fun, that's what you are." Abby huffed, before stomping away.

"What was that all about?" A voice asked curiously from behind Edward Townsend.

Joe had caught Edward off guard, which was very unusual, especially since he was _Edward Townsend_.

"Nothing, nothing." Edward answered too quickly.

Joe looked at Edward with a you-better-tell-me look, which would never have worked on him, rest assured. Townsend simply wanted to have answers.

"What is the…relationship between you and the lady, Summer?" Townsend asked nonchalant.

"Nothing really, met a few times in the past. She's changed a lot, that's all. I nearly couldn't recognize her." Joe admitted sheepishly.

"So, was there…some past interesting relationship?" Edward winked conspiratorially.

"Ha, ha, why of course not." Joe laughed awkwardly. Despite being one of the best agents in the world…he had never quite mastered the art of faking a laugh.

"How long?" Townsend decided to push his limits and peruse more into Joe Solomon's _personal_ life.

Joe opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"It's Liz! Her dad's back!" Bex screamed as she pushed through the men to reach the front door.

**Author's Note:**

**I apologize if this chapter is rather uninteresting. I also apologize for taking so ridiculously long to finally post another chapter. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story, and forgive me for the boring chapters ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Mr. Sutton, please understand, if we had known who these young ladies were, I can assure you that we would've alerted you to their being here in this hospital. Alas, we didn't realize, and thus, were unable to reach you." Summer explained hurriedly, as she attempted to keep up with Mr. Sutton's fast pace.

As the door to the hospital bedroom came into view, Summer jumped in front of Mr. Sutton.

"We first need confirmation that you are indeed their father, because…you know, we just simply need to know this type of information." Summer stumbled across her words, "We can't exactly give young girls to every man claiming to be their father."

"Are you a nurse or doctor?" Mr. Sutton asked irritated, as he tried to move around Summer's blockade.

"No, I'm a social worker." Summer handed him her business card.

She wasn't ready for what happened next though.

Mr. Sutton shoved her into the adjacent wall, and breathed into her face, "Exactly what are you implying?"

"Nothing, nothing." Summer tried to unfasten his tight grip around her throat and shoulder.

"You better not be, because otherwise…next time everything will be worse." Mr. Sutton threatened as his voice went deeper.

"What do you mean worse?" Summer croaked. As soon as she said those words, she wished she hadn't.

Mr. Sutton whipped out a knife from within his jacket, and flipping it open, sliced Summer's neck, ever so lightly. Blood began to trickle out from the wound.

"I believe that you understand now." He then let her drop to the ground in a heap.

Mr. Sutton began walking towards his daughters' room, expecting the social worker to attempt to stop him, but she didn't. He turned around to stare briefly at the shapeless heap on the floor.

Summer Adams had fainted.

**0oo0oo0**

"Do you remember when Mom and Dad used to take us to the state fair?" Ellie reminisced.

"Yeah, yeah, I do." Liz sighed. She was positive that she remembered those occasions quite differently than her younger sister. Liz was glad, however, that her sister seemed to have blotted out the unhappy memories and occasions that she had witnessed. She simply wished she could forget them as easily as Ellie.

"I also remember that quite well. I'm sure I had almost as much fun as the both of you." Mr. Sutton announced menacingly, as he stalked towards them, as a lioness would stalk her prey.

"Dad…" Liz whispered, as she attempted to get out of bed. She turned to see that Ellie had turned almost as white as her new bed-sheets. "You shouldn't be here."

"Oh, did you really think I wouldn't come visit my daughters when they were in the hospital?" Mr. Sutton asked, pretending to be offended; his voice dripping with honey and sarcasm.

"I must admit that I was quite hurt when I found out that I hadn't been alerted to the hospitalization of my two daughters." Mr. Sutton put his hand over his heart, pretending to relive the moments when he was frightened that his daughters might not live.

"Dad, I think you should go." Liz spoke carefully, watching his eyes for any of his tell-tale signs of his dementia.

Finn Sutton's hand sprung from covering his heart to the inside of his coat. "You do, do you? Well now, that ain't exactly the most invitin' thing to say to you own pops." His voice began to deepen, and his accent became more heavily Southern.

Liz gasped. He had a knife. This was far worse than she could've ever anticipated. Ellie and herself were hooked up to the machine that was monitoring different aspects of their body's recovery. She couldn't simply "unhook" herself.

"Dad…" Liz spoke calmly, "I think you should sit down, and maybe have some coffee. The hospital's coffee is surprisingly delicious, strong, and just coffee-ish. It's exactly how you like it." She hoped to convince her father to simply sit down, and let his mind return to a semi-calm state.

Liz paled when she noticed that her father wasn't heading towards her, rather towards Ellie, who looked like a deer caught in the front-lights of a car. "Dad! Stop!"

Finn wouldn't acknowledge his daughter though. He was in his own small world, where he needed to rid the world of his daughters. They didn't have the strength to carry on in life. They needed to be released from the struggles that their lives would bring upon them.

Finn's mind was already beyond help. He couldn't help himself…or maybe he could've.

"Daddy, please no!" Liz sobbed, as she tried to rip the needles sticking into her arms off. "DADDY!" She screamed and tried to lunge for his raised arm, but couldn't reach him; as his raised hand plunged down to bury itself in Ellie's heart. The knife had struck home.

Liz watched everything happen in slow-motion. Her vision began to get blurry as she saw Ellie turn her head towards Liz.

Ellie was looking in Liz's direction, without seeing. Her head sunk into her petite body, as her arms fell limp over the bed's railing.

"No, no, NO! Daddy, no! Why her? Why her?" Liz bawled as she reached her one disconnected arm towards her sister's cooling, limp hand.

She didn't even notice Finn spin around to face her. She didn't see or pay attention to the bedroom door bursting open, nearly ripping it off its hinges, and Mr. Solomon run and tackle Finn Sutton.

She didn't even acknowledge her friends, as they came sprinting through the door, gasping for breath.

All she acknowledged; all that was in her view, was her dead, sweet, little angel of a sister. There was the one thing that she had needed to protect; the one person who had been with Liz through everything, and she had failed her. She had failed the one person who truly knew Elizabeth Sutton.


	9. Chapter 9

_"Daddy, please no!" Liz sobbed, as she tried to rip the needles sticking into her arms off. "DADDY!" She screamed and tried to lunge for his raised arm, but couldn't reach him; as his raised hand plunged down to bury itself in Ellie's heart. The knife had struck home._

Liz screamed as she thrashed around, and tried to fight her covers, believing them to be the needles sticking into her arms.

She suddenly felt strong hands holding her arms down, and believing that those arms were her father's, she began to scream louder, and tried to fight them.

"Liz, it's okay. You're not in the hospital anymore." A soft voice floated through her sub-conscious, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked into the kind face of Rachel Morgan.

Rachel felt the fight leave Liz's arms. She held her arms out as Liz collapsed in sobs. She began to stroke her hair, and whisper soothing things into her ear. "It's going to be okay, Liz, it's going to be okay."

The heart-racking cries woke the others up, and they all climbed onto Liz's bed, and held her, as she cried.

**0oo0oo0oo0oo0**

"We need to do something about getting custody for Liz." Abby slammed her hands down on the sofa arm. "We'll need to get social worker who would work towards our demands…well, not demands, but preferences. And…I think I know who has connections."

"I'll talk to Summer, but the thing is, she won't work towards our 'preferences' unless she's sure it's the right choice and place for Liz to live. Also…who is going to be taking custody? We can't exactly have…the school take custody of Liz, can we?" Joe looked at the small group that had gathered to discuss Liz's situation.

"I'm willing to take custody, or apply for custody of Liz." A voice broke through the silence, as everyone considered whether or not they would be suited to providing Liz a home. The voice that spoke…was, unexpected, least to say.

Everyone turned to face Edward Townsend.

"Are you certain, you're ready for this?" Rachel was the first to speak.

"I'm certain." Edward replied stoically.

**0oo0oo0oo0oo0**

"Yes, I'm willing to help you, _if_ I find Edward suitable for keeping Liz at his house." Summer answered evenly, when Joe asked her about being Liz's social worker.

"Thank you." Joe got up to go, but before he left, he gave Summer a chaste kiss.

"Goodbye." Summer waved, as he left. She looked at her hands, and noticed that there was a slight trembling.

"Goodness, Summer."

**0oo0oo0oo0oo0**

"So…Agent Townsend is going to have custody of me?" Liz meekly asked, to be certain. She always had to double check, triple check even; to make sure what she heard or read was true. In this case, it was quadruple check.

"Yes, Liz." Abby rolled her eyes, exasperated. "He is, and…if he does anything to you, you can just call me, and I'll beat him up for you." She grinned jokingly at Liz, intending to make her laugh.

"If, you'll excuse me, can I please go?" Liz got up to go, and was almost out of the door when she asked.

"Sure." Rachel nodded at her.

When Liz had closed the door, and Rachel assumed she was out of earshot, she glared at her sister. "You simply had to mention, Edward doing 'anything' to her! She just got out of an abusive situation! How could you be so…inconsiderate, and just…insensitive!" She ran her hands through her hair, apprehensively.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize…well…I'm sorry, okay!" Abby screamed back at her. Her nerves were beginning to fray from the seriousness, and graveness of the situation.

There was a knock on the door. Miss Dabney waltzed in. "There is a Miss Summer Adams on the phone for you, Mrs. Morgan."

"Thank you." She nodded curtly, waiting for Miss Dabney to leave. "Thank you."

"She means…leave." Abby translated.

Miss Dabney looked at Abby stretched out on the couch, one leg hanging over the end of the couch, and the other one on the floor. She looked disgusted, and she flounced out of the room.

Abby burst out laughing, as soon as the door was closed. "Did you see her face? Oh, goodness, that was priceless!" She fell off the couch, and into a heap, before getting up, and blowing the hair out of her face.

"So…what does 'Miss Summer Adams' want sis?"

Rachel was still on the phone, so she gestured to Abby to keep her mouth shut. Abby mimed zipping her mouth shut, then gave Rachel thumbs up.

As Rachel hung up, and began to put the phone down, Abby jumped over to her desk, and cornering her sister, asked "So…what's happening?"

"Summer would like to have Liz, Bex, Cammie, and Macey over to her house tomorrow. She wanted my consent on the matter, and I gave it."

"Uh." Abby's face twisted in disgust.

"What? I thought it was a lovely offer." Rachel stared at her confused.

"You're beginning to sound like Townsend!" Abby managed to get out, between her gritted teeth.

"Oh, good. I'm glad you noticed." Rachel winked at Abby, before getting back to work.

"You…you…you did it on purpose!" Abby stared at Rachel horrified.

**Author's Note:**

**Hello, everyone. I want to apologize for taking literal ages to post another chapter to this story. Life has been quite hectic, as of late. I also want to say sorry, if I have gotten anything wrong with the legal issues, etc. I'm not exactly an expert on them; I even tried to look it up…so I'm very sorry.**

**Last of all, I'm sorry if this chapter was rather boring. I'll try to do better next time.**

**I hope ya'll have had a wonderful summer!**


	10. Chapter 10

Liz locked the bathroom door behind her. She turned on the shower, but instead of stepping into the shower, she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself. She leaned in, and saw a single tear making its way down. Liz angrily brushed it off. She then looked into the sink, and realizing that she couldn't hold it in, let the tears fall. Liz then tilted her head back, and stared at the ceiling. She was careful to avoid looking herself in the mirror. She couldn't look at her own face without becoming disgusted.

There was a knock on the door.

"Liz? Liz, are you in there?" Bex asked, while pounding on the door.

"Yes!" Liz snapped back, staring at the door, her vision blurry.

"Okay, okay." Bex replied, backing away from the door.

"You're going to act like nothing's wrong, and that everything's perfect." Liz whispered to herself in the mirror, having finally gathered enough courage to face herself. "Everything's perfect, nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect, nothing's wrong." She was still chanting this under her breath, when she had wiped away all traces of her previous state, and walked into the bedroom.

**0oo0oo0oo0**

The door swung open. "Hey, girls! Come on in." Summer smiled, and gestured for them to come in. But when Edward and Joe tried to come in, she held her hands up. "Nope…just the _girls_."

"We could protect them." Edward suggested.

"Well, you can protect them from the outside of the house. How about that?" Summer gently tapped Edward's shoulder for emphasis, before shutting the door.

"How absolutely rude." Edward exclaimed, turning to Joe. Joe simply shrugged.

**0oo0oo0oo0**

"Is everything okay, Summer?" Cammie asked worriedly, when she saw Summer walking down the hallway. She had been waiting for her, while the other girls took her into the kitchen.

"No, no. The guys just wanted to come in." Summer smiled at Cammie. "And…that might've ruined everything."

**0oo0oo0oo0**

Summer walked in, and clapping her hands said, "So…who wants to bake?" She began to take mixing bowls, and measuring cups out of the cupboards, before anyone answered. "Cool, so do I."

Liz looked at the mixing bowls, and measuring cups as though they were vipers in a nest, and she didn't wish to disturb them. "Um…" she shook her head, as she backed up, "I'm not exactly the best at baking, so perhaps I should just observe. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She agreed with herself, and tried to sit in a chair.

The said chair was pulled away by Macey. She shook her head, and silently pointed to the counter, where the baking utensils were set out. Liz sullenly drudged over the counter, and banged her head against it. "You seriously don't want me to help."

"Oh, of course we do." Summer encouraged her. "Okay, so we're going to make some brownies. Liz, do you think you can put in the baking powder? Thanks."

The next fifteen minutes passed quickly, as they all helped out. Liz began to feel better, and when the batter was ready, it looked so perfect that Liz was certain that she hadn't messed up anything in the recipe book. She was so certain; she even asked to be the one to put the brownies in the oven.

Summer, Cammie, Macey, Bex, and Liz were all sitting in the living room, sipping hot chocolate, laughing at different funny times they had had, when they heard a huge explosion come from the direction of the kitchen.

All those wonderful honed spy skills of keeping-your-cool didn't really help much, because every single one of them jumped. Cammie and Summer's hot chocolate spilt on their shirts. They didn't care though, because they were so worried about the explosion. Everyone dashed to the kitchen, but Liz hung back a bit. She knew that she simply must have done something wrong. She bit her lip so hard, that it bled.

When she arrived in the kitchen, it looked as though a bomb had literally went off. There was brownie batter splattered all over the kitchen walls, ceiling, and floor. Joe and Townsend, having heard the explosion had rushed in, and slipped on the batter, and were now covered in it. Liz looked at the how Townsend's face was twisted in disgust, and embarrassment, and couldn't help but laugh.

Townsend, noticing this, laughed as well. He was glad that she was laughing.

Liz felt something wet on her head, and reaching up to touch it, realized that it was the brownies. She tilted her head back to see where it had come from, when more fell onto her forehead, and dripped down her face. She sputtered, and the brownie batter flew out of her mouth. She dragged her hand across her face, sweeping away as much as she could.

"What happened?"

"I have no clue." Summer giggled when Joe slipped on the brownie, and rammed Townsend into the wall. Needless to say, this created a bigger mess, when the mugs hanging on the wall crashed onto their heads.

"Coming through." Macey pushed Liz aside, and dumped a bucket of water on the floor.

"What was that for?" Bex perused.

"To clean it up, of course." Macey stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, of course, because we're all just going to pour water on the floor. Of course not, it makes it an even bigger bloody mess." Bex retorted, spreading her hands for emphasis, and receiving two large globs of brownie batter in her outstretched hands.

Liz began to laugh harder when she saw Bex flex her hands, attempting control. She laughed when she saw Summer go to help both Joe and Townsend up, but ended up falling on top of them, when she slipped on the mess. Liz grasped for the counter as she began to collapse from the laughter ripping through her small frame.

When she, finally, collapsed in giggles, she didn't notice everyone in the room look at each other, as though they were in a conspiracy together. Bex winked at Cammie, and Macey gave a thumbs-up to Summer.

_#1 Get Liz laughing_. _Check._


	11. Chapter 11

"Is this Summer Adam's office?" A brunette woman asked Lindy curiously.

"Yes, it is." Lindy replied without looking up from the sheets that were spread all over her desk.

"Can I go in there?" The woman asked.

"Do you have an appointment?" Lindy asked, still not looking up from her work.

"No. But I will meet her." The woman said curtly, before barging past Lindy, and pushing open the door to Summer's office.

"No! You can't go in." Lindy scrambled up from her chair, and dashed after the brunette. She wasn't able to stop her entering the now open doors. "Ms. Adams, I'm so sorry! I can call security!"

Summer rose gracefully from her chair, and looking at her flustered secretary and the intruder, smiled. "It's perfectly fine Lindy. Just continue on with your work, and if you could make sure no one interrupts this meeting, that would be great. And...could you push back all my meetings for today one hour? Thank you." She gestured for Lindy to leave the room.

Lindy gave the brunette one more venomous scowl before slamming the door behind her.

Summer looked at her unexpected guest, and gestured for her to sit. "Please Abby, sit."

**0oo0oo0oo0**

When Liz came in from taking a shower, she saw that Cammie, Macey, and Bex were gathered around something on Bex's bed, and it looked as though it was bothering them. "What are you guys looking at?" She inquired, while still towel-drying her hair.

"We were simply looking at an incredibly interesting book about chemical engineering. I think you'd really enjoy it." Macey answered smoothly.

"Oh…okay." Liz shrugged. "Mind if I read it sometime?"

"Oh, of course not! I mean, we bought it so that you could read it. What would we be doing with a book on chemical engineering?" Bex asked, before handing the thick book to Liz.

"Thanks. Um…would you mind if I read it in the library?" Liz asked sheepishly.

"No!" The trio answered together.

"Alright…I'm going now." Liz backed towards the door, staring at her…unique-ish friends, before opening and shutting the door.

"Whew! I thought she'd never leave." Macey commented, as Bex reached under her pillow and removed the real book that they had been looking at. The book with the secret checklist. They had been looking at the next item on the list:

_#2 Find Liz a boyfriend._

**0oo0oo0oo0**

Abby gratefully accepted the offered chair. She sank into the overstuffed armchair with a sigh of contentment. She then looked at Summer. "I appreciate you receiving me on such short notice."

Summer smirked at her comment, but said nothing.

Abby straightened up a bit. She then began to study the intricate design of the carpet flooring in Summer's office. "I'm not sure if you would be able to tell or not…but I'm not exactly the kind of person who apologizes." At this, she looked up at Summer. "I want to apologize for my behavior towards you. I feel…and many others…" She rolled her eyes at this, and gave Summer the impression that whoever the "others" were, they had given Abby a hard time about her behavior towards Summer. "Well…basically, I want to apologize for being such a bitch. There I've said it." Abby threw up her hands to signal the end of the apology. "Oh, that may have made it seem insincere, but I sincerely guarantee you, it was a sincere and heartfelt apology.

Summer smiled, "Thanks Abby. That meant a lot. I'm also sorry, if I've seen like a bit of a…pain in the ass." Then as though it was an afterthought, "If you'll excuse my rather…crude language."

Abby's formerly solemn face, broke into an easy grin. "Your apology is accepted. I'm so relieved." She put her hand over her heart to signify how it made her heart feel so much better.

Summer mirrored Abby's grin when she saw the gesture. "Why thank you, now I think I will be able to sleep better at night."

Abby laughed at Summer's sarcasm. "You know something? I think that I might just like you." She then lifted herself from the chair, and seriousness returning to her face, said, "And thanks again for seeing me. It…it was…just…yeah." Abby seemed momentarily at a loss for words. "Just, thank you."Abby regained her composure, and walked out the office.

**0oo0oo0oo0**

"Rip Linguini?" Macey stared incredulously at the boy's file that lay before her. "Now who in the world in their right mind names their child Euripides, and then nicknames them Rip? Rip sounds like some buff hunk…and this guy is like the complete opposite of a hunk, let alone a buff hunk! I don't like him." She slammed shut the file, and flung it onto the growing pile of rejected boys. She then looked at the ever diminishing pile of potential boyfriends for Liz.

"This is impossible. Who could possibly be good enough for Liz? Same IQ? Same interests? It's like impossible!" Bex burst out. Her sentiments echoed the private thoughts of both Cammie and Macey.

Liz suddenly burst through the bedroom door, followed by Tina who was screaming and dancing. "The Blackthorne boys are back! The Blackthorne boys are back!" When Tina realized that they were not going to give her the attention that she wanted, or inquire how she had come across the information, and having realized that they had received the information, she ran out of the room still screaming, so as to let the entire dorm know about this extraordinary news.

The sudden entrance of Tina and Liz had forced Macey to dive over the rejected pile, since there were no more potentials.

Professor Buckingham came soon after Tina had left, and announced that the girls had five minutes to prepare themselves for meeting the boys downstairs in the landing. She glanced at Macey sprawled over Bex's bed, Bex stuck underneath Macey, Cammie hanging half off Bex's bed her chest covering the checklist for Liz, and Liz standing with her mouth gaping open, and made no comment. There wasn't even a flicker of amusement, though inside she was shaking with laughter.

"Hey Liz." Cammie waved from the ground. She slowly slid her legs down to the floor, and secretly grabbing the book and shoving it under Bex's bed, began to get up from her uncomfortable position.

"Hey Cammie." Liz regained her composure, and smiled as Bex struggled to get herself free from beneath Macey.

As Bex finally freed herself, she accidentally kicked a couple files onto the floor. Cammie, Bex, and Macey froze instantly for a few brief seconds, before Bex and Cammie jumped into action. They scrambled to pick up the files that were lying in the open, and would be dangerous in the wrong hands, specifically the hands of Elizabeth Sutton. Macey didn't move a muscle, afraid that if she did, Liz could potentially snatch one of the precious files from beneath her.

Unfortunately for them, Liz was faster than both Cammie and Bex, because she hadn't froze. As she picked up one of the files, all of the girls inwardly winced.

"Who is Rip Linguini?" Liz asked genuinely curious. She continued flipping through the loose leaflets within the file, without looking at the girls for an answer. She suddenly stopped, and looked at the current sheet again. "You have gone through his trash?"

"Well," Cammie tried to shrug and act nonchalant. "We all know the benefits of looking through a boy's trash. It can…definitely show what the boy is like." She looked around desperately for agreement. Both Macey and Bex nodded their agreement.

"Incredibly beneficial to romantic relationships." Bex said, before realizing the impact of what she had just said.

"Who's about to start a romantic relationship? And…is it with Rip Linguini? Because…I'm afraid I don't approve." Liz held up the photo paper-clipped to the file, which showed a platinum blonde haired boy with Harry Potter-like glasses and braces that surrounded his face.

Macey cleared her throat, and slowly and hesitantly raised her hand. "Well…not with Rip Linguini…but a romantic relationship, yes."

Liz clapped her hands, and squealed happily. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Professor Buckingham opening the door, and ordering the girls to go downstairs to greet the boys.

She stood to the side of the door, to make sure that the girls did actually come out of the bedroom. She then shut the door, and walked behind the girls, so as to make sure that they didn't try to escape and avoid meeting the boys.

As Cammie, Macey, Bex, and Liz descended the stairs, they were greeted by some familiar faces, while some they had not seen before.

Bex saw Grant, and he lifted his hand in some sort of half wave, which is often how boys communicate hi. The girls surrounding Bex thought that Grant was waving to them, and swooned, while attempting to appear coy. Bex waved back, irritated with the sea of swooning girls. She gently touched Macey's arm to tell her that Grant had waved at her, but Macey's attention was elsewhere.

Macey was gazing at Liz, and a boy directly below her. Jonas.

Bex and Cammie followed the direction where Macey was staring at, and immediately, simultaneously noticed that it was Jonas. Liz's slight blush did not escape their intense gaze, either.

Bex looked at Cammie, and then Macey. They mentally scolded themselves for not thinking or even considering Jonas. The same thought was going their minds. How could they possibly have overlooked Jonas? He was perfect. How could they have missed him? It was inexcusable. Jonas. Perfect Jonas.


End file.
